Coffey found guilty on three rape charges; Dover man to spend at least 30 years in prison

Tuesday

Aug 19, 2014 at 3:15 AMAug 19, 2014 at 9:12 AM

DOVER — Samuel Coffey will spend at least 30 years behind bars in New Hampshire State Prison after a jury of his peers on Monday afternoon found him guilty on three rape charges. Coffey, 19, of 1113 Lilac Lane, Dover, was charged with raping a 16-year-old he met while the two were students at Dover High School.

By Kimberley Haaskhaas@fosters.com

DOVER — Samuel Coffey will spend at least 30 years behind bars in New Hampshire State Prison after a jury of his peers on Monday afternoon found him guilty on three rape charges.

Coffey, 19, of 1113 Lilac Lane, Dover, was charged with raping a 16-year-old he met while the two were students at Dover High School. On Dec. 16, 2012, he drove the girl in his pickup truck to a remote location near Winchester Arms apartments, plied her with alcohol until she was physically helpless to resist him and then attacked her in the cab of his truck.

The girl testified that Coffey started a Facebook exchange with her on the night of the aggravated felonious sexual assaults. After Coffey asked if he could get her “piss drunk,” she took a ride in his truck with him.

The teenager said Coffey stole beer and other alcoholic beverages from his grandparents' house and, after arriving at an isolated spot in the woods, he forced her to drink to the point where she no longer had control of her body.

The teenager had a spotty recollection of the rape. She said she tried to play dead so Coffey would leave her in the woods, despite the fact there was a snowstorm that night.

Eventually, Coffey took the girl to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, where she was treated and released to her parents. Coffey denied having sex with the girl when asked by a police officer about what happened.

For lying to police about his sexual involvement, Coffey was convicted on an unsworn falsification charge.

Coffey also was found guilty of prohibited sales for giving the girl alcoholic beverages.

Despite facing up to 90 years in prison for Monday's conviction, Assistant County Attorney Alysia Cassotis said the state will continue to prosecute two pending cases they have against Coffey. The state alleges Coffey raped another female victim between June 1 and Oct. 7, 2012.

Coffey also has been charged with raping a 13-year-old girl on June 8, 2013. He was free on bail at the time he violently attacked the girl. Jury selection is set to begin in that case on Sept. 8.

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